Apple iPhone vs Samsung Instinct

Here at Cell Canada, we’ve been engaged in an active debate about whether to go the Bell & Samsung Instinct route or the Rogers & iPhone route.

Crunchgear ran a comparison on the two and summarized the features in this table:

Feature

iPhone

Instinct

Virtual QWERTY

x

x

Visual voicemail

x

x

Video recording

x

Camera

x

x

Web browser

x

x

Voice navigation

x

3G

x

WiFi

x

Bluetooth

x

x

Expandable memory

x

Streaming multimedia

x

Email

x

x

SMS

x

x

MMS

x

True GPS

x

Music

x

x

Maps

x

x

Mobile TV

x

YouTube

x

Live home view

x

The iPhone in the comparison was the 2G version. The new 3G iPhone picks up 3G and GPS to bring the hardware feature comparison into a near draw.

Of course, the iPhone is about user interface and software. It is essentially a portable computer with a strong OS, a great development framework, and through the developer program and App store, the potential to become a very feature rich tool.

The Instinct on the other hand is about basics and price. Phone, Email, and Web. The primary applications on the iPhone are well represented on the Instinct. At $149 on contract, it costs less than the iPhone and most importantly, on Bell, you can add unlimited data on an Instinct for $10/month. The unlimited aspect balances out most of the wifi advantage of the iPhone. Over a 3 year contract, the Bell data plan is at least $720 better than the Rogers option. A detailed Instinct review here on CNET.

We are still split here but now that Rogers has positioned a better data plan at $30/month for 6GB and given the upside application/tool potential of the iPhone, we’re leaning towards the iPhone.

It’s all about the App store. Is the innovation that may come through the App store worth an extra $20/month?

Thanks Lindsay. I do point out in the post that the iPhone does now have 3G – the table was built relative to the first gen iPhone. Regarding YouTube, the difference is that YouTube is an icon on the menu with the iPhone versus available via the browser on the Instinct. I agree with you that this is insignificant for the purposes of comparison.

Troyboysaid

I recently purchased a Sumsung Instinct and Iphone 3G for my corporation. Blackberry go home. You’re done. I don’t think the Samsung should be compared to an Iphone 3G. The Iphone continues to amaze me and the Instinct is just another phone with email and web browsing with a few extra goodies. You can create lists of comparative features and check this box and that box, but I really don’t think that anything will dethrone the iphone, ever. The applications available for the Iphone and the development behind it essentially make it a device that is truly unique and useful. I could go on endlessly about the cool and useful apps available to the iphone, and they continue to grow at an exponential rate. The Instinct allows for email and web browsing and has some boring and limited apps…yawn. Calling it an Iphone killer is an absolute joke.

Tariussaid

More for Less, Instict over the iPhone anyday all day. Apple sucks, being forced to have to lean to iTunes ONLY for my entertainment would be pure hell. The numbers speak for themselves SPRINT’s Instict phone and service is priced far better.